Kintail wanderings: 9 Munros north of Glen Shiel
Looking back to the summit of Sgurr Fhuaran, the last of day’s nine Munros north of Glen Shiel in Scotland
Recently, I was preparing a stripped down photography equipment list for occasions where I wanted to travel light outdoors but still needed to capture professional-quality images. Although the items of equipment I chose are lighter than my full bag of camera and lighting gear, they are still too heavy for me to carry on occasions when I’m not working and my goal is to push myself a little in the mountains.
My inspiration for challenging days out on the hills comes from the athletes I photograph as well as my friends. I’m nowhere near a mountain runner or fell runner but I’ve had plenty of photography shoots with professional runners (and follow their adventures online) and the ease and speed at which they travel over rough ground has made me realise that I enjoy moving quicker than walking speed in the mountains (something which I have attempted to do in the past with a full camera backpack but my lower back seeks to constantly remind me).
With this in mind, I purchased the lightest-weight camera I own, a Sony RX100 V for outdoor adventures for occasions where photography is not the focus of my trip but I still wish to capture decent-quality images. The images I’m able to produce with the Sony RX100 are on the borderline of what I’d class as being acceptable for professional purposes (I’m happy to use them for editorial submissions, social media posts and blogs) but the trade off when I’m not working is immeasurable. I can fit the camera into a stretchy front pocket of my backpack and easily fast-walk or jog with it up and down hills without any impairment on my activity, whilst still being able to document my day or take shots I can use later for e.g. location scouting purposes.
The type of outing I’d carry along a Sony RX100 on would be trail running in my local Pentland Hills, a multi-Munro route like the one described here, a hut-to-hut run in the European Alps or a long-distance mountain bike time trial, where my objective is to achieve a relatively big thing (for me) in a certain period of time and I don’t wish to be encumbered with a heavy pack.
An example of this was when I was looking for ideas for a challenging day out in Scotland. My focus was on Kintail in the North-West Highlands of Scotland. If I wished to climb a lot of Munros in a day, Kintail’s South Glen Shiel ridge allows for 7 summits to be ticked off in a fairly easy fashion. Opposite them on the north side of the glen, there are 7 Munros that I could do the following day (or perhaps even on the same day).
The record for the most amount of Munros in a day is held by English runner Kim Collison, who ran 100 miles and climbed 29,500ft to tick off a total of 33 summits in 23 hours and 59 minutes in 2021. The record for total Munro completions overall is Steven Fallon, who’s completed 15 rounds (of 282 hills, sometimes more) over a twenty year period. A qualified mountain guide, Steven is also an accomplished hill runner and his website has a number of running options if you’re looking to join groups of Munros together to make a longer day and set yourself a challenge.
I settled on Steven Fallon’s Kintail Sisters and Brother route, a 39km circular route with c.4000m ascent that includes two nearby Munros and takes in 9 Munro summits. The route starts and ends at the outdoor centre at Morvich and my goal was to complete the round in a certain timescale, using some adjustments I prefer to Naesmith’s formula (which I calculate at 4km/h for every km travelled and 1 hour for every 600m ascent). This isn’t running pace but to achieve it means not stopping so I figured it was a good enough challenge and it would provide me with a day out that would test me but not break my legs (figuratively speaking, not literally). In the end, I didn’t quite manage to complete the route in Naesmith’s timings (it took me 16 hours instead of 15) but I still felt in great shape at the end and it was a memorable day out.
Glen Shiel Sisters and Brothers route (including two additional Munros)
Distance: 39km / 24 miles
Ascent: 4105m / 13,467ft
Time: 16 hours 03 minutes
(Steven’s website recorded this route as 35km / 22 miles in distance with 3,140m / 10,300ft ascent but my calculations were as above, which I corroborated with a friend and then Steven afterwards).
Munros climbed
A'Ghlas Bheinn (918m)
Beinn Fhada (1032m)
Ciste Dhubh (979m)
Aonach Meadhoin (1001m)
Sgurr a'Bhealaich Dheirg (1036m)
Saileag (956m)
Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe (1027m)
Sgurr na Carnach (1002m)
Sgurr Fhuaran (1067m)
Postscript
One of the reasons I wanted to attempt Steven’s Kintail route was because I have an itch to attempt Philip Tranter’s Round and the time I took in Glen Shiel would give me an indication if that was feasible. It’s relatively tight, with an additional 5 miles and 8,000ft I’d need to cover in the remaining 8 hours (which sounds straightforward enough but at my pace, which will no doubt be slowing by then, it only gives me one hour to play with).